The YouTube Roadshow recently concluded its third roadshow the city of Cairo in Egypt at the Greek Campus. The aim of the roadshow is to bring together YouTube executives and Egyptian content creators, as well as new potential creators. The roadshow also helps You Tubers creators showcase their success, as well as educate and mentor new ones. This will help them brainstorm new, original content, as well as come up with a viable business model through the online platform.
The program allows anyone with a YouTube channel consisting of at least one video, to monetize their content and make revenue by displaying ads against their original content. The program was originally launched in 2013 to users in Egypt, KSA, and UAE and later expanded to include Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Yemen.
Hala Ajil, YouTube Partner Manager for the Middle East and North Africa region, says: “Egypt is one of our top priorities in the region which is why YouTube is back for its third roadshow. The growth we’ve seen ever since the launch has been incredible. Egypt has a huge potential when it comes to YouTube creators – a lot of original, engaging content is born here. We are giving creators the platform, tools and support to give them a voice not just in the region, but also globally.”
He added, “Advertisers should expect local and regional creators to produce more and more high quality, attractive content on YouTube. We also want to see more creators taking YouTube to the next level – where it goes from being a hobby to a full-time job”.
Mostafa Shaaban, founder of Digisay, a company specialized in managing YouTube channels, said: “We believe that YouTube is the most important channel when it comes to online marketing. We started in 2010 and we built the YouTube presence for Amr Diab and Hesham Nazih. Now, we’re building Mohammed Mounir’s YouTube presence. Some of our partners are Islam Zaki, Massar Egbari band, Wust El Balad band and Sharmoofers, they were all introduced to the people through YouTube. We also manage Misr International Films “Youssef Chahine’s company” and Oscar for Production. And all of them had some great performances on YouTube.”
Yasmine El Meheiry, founder of YouTube channel SuperMama, said:” I encourage all producers to work with YouTube, whether they are professional or doing this for fun. It is an amazing feeling to be able to connect with other people through your videos to share your talent and become a YouTube celebrity.”
Ashraf Hamdi, co-founder of Eyptoon, said: “YouTube has given us everything we’ve dreamed for cartoon animation. The platform gives us creative freedom to express our ideas and thoughts and I strongly advise young talent to innovate on the platform where there are no challenges or barriers and the audience is the number one critic.”
YouTube Metrics in MENA
YouTube has become a cultural phenomenon in many countries around the world and its effects are most noticeable in the Middle East and North Africa where the region comes in second place after the U.S in terms of viewership (and ahead of Brazil). The number of hours people watch on YouTube in MENA has grown by 50% in the last year. More than two hours of content is being uploaded from the region every minute. With millions of internet users in Egypt every month, there is a strong trend for young Egyptians to create new content for online video.
YouTube Metrics Globally
Watchtime globally is growing by 50% year on year, half of views come from mobile and more than 300 hours per minute are being uploaded on the platform.
The roadshow focuses on the premise that partners have been, and will continue to be the lifeblood of YouTube. The fact that YouTube executives provide extensive training to the attendees on the best practices on the platform, enables them to make quality engaging content that attracts viewership and most importantly, watch-time. Egyptian creators who have successfully transformed their work on YouTube from hobby to career get to share their success stories, tips and best practices to the audience – this will help grow the Egyptian and YouTube community in MENA, increasing the consumption of local content in both in the region, and globally.
To become a Partner and join the YouTube Partner Program, users need to have a YouTube account with at least one video on their channel. Their content also needs to comply with the Terms of Service and Community Guidelines (more information here https://goo.gl/keOlMH).
For more statistics on YouTube globally, please visit: